Caution

Not exhaustively tested - expect rough edges

Head tracking, aim decoupling and 6DOF position all work in game, but the mod has only been played through a small part of Alien: Isolation. Expect issues in situations it has not been put through yet.

Please report anything you hit on the issues page.

Alien: Isolation Head Tracking

6DOF head tracking for Alien: Isolation that moves the in-game camera with your head while your mouse or controller keeps aiming, driven by OpenTrack over UDP, with no VR headset required.

Features

• Decoupled look and aim - head tracking moves the camera; aim stays on your mouse/controller
• 6DOF positional tracking - lean and peek with head position
• Aim-locked reticle and use prompts - our reticle and the "E USE" prompt sit where the gun actually points

Requirements

• Alien: Isolation on Steam (App ID 214490), the 2015 retail build.
• An OpenTrack-compatible head tracker. OpenTrack is free and supports webcams, phones, and VR headsets.
• Windows 10 or 11. The game is 32-bit, so the mod ships as a 32-bit .asi.

Installation

1. Download the installer ZIP from the Releases page.
2. Extract it anywhere.
3. Double-click install.cmd.
4. In OpenTrack, set the output to UDP and send to 127.0.0.1:4242.
5. Launch the game.

If the installer cannot find your game, point it at the install folder with an environment variable:

set ALIEN_ISOLATION_PATH=D:\Games\Alien Isolation
install.cmd

or pass the folder as the first argument:

install.cmd "D:\Games\Alien Isolation"

Manual Installation

The installer places two files next to AI.exe in the game folder. To do it by hand:

1. Copy the Ultimate ASI Loader from vendor/ultimate-asi-loader/dinput8.dll into the game folder and rename it to xinput1_3.dll. If an xinput1_3.dll from another mod is already there, leave it in place; the loader only needs to exist once.
2. Copy AlienIsolationHeadTracking.asi from the plugins folder into the same directory.

The full path is usually:

<SteamLibrary>/steamapps/common/Alien Isolation/

The Nexus release ZIP contains only AlienIsolationHeadTracking.asi, for users who already run an ASI loader.

Setting Up OpenTrack

1. Open OpenTrack.
2. Set Output to "UDP over network".
3. Set host to 127.0.0.1 and port to 4242.
4. Map the axes you want (yaw, pitch, roll, x, y, z), center your head, and click Start.

VR Headset Setup

1. Connect your headset to the PC with Air Link or Virtual Desktop and start SteamVR.
2. In OpenTrack, set Input to the SteamVR tracker.
3. Set Output to UDP on 127.0.0.1:4242 and click Start.

Webcam Setup

1. In OpenTrack, set Input to the "neuralnet tracker".
2. Pick your webcam and let it find your face.
3. Set Output to UDP on 127.0.0.1:4242 and click Start.

Phone App Setup

Apps like SmoothTrack, Head Tracker, or opentrack-android can send directly to the PC. If the app already smooths its output, point its UDP output at the PC's LAN IP on port 4242 and skip OpenTrack. To apply OpenTrack's curve mapping instead, send from the phone into OpenTrack as the input and let OpenTrack relay UDP to 127.0.0.1:4242.

Controls

Two equivalent binding sets - use whichever your keyboard has:

Action	Nav-cluster	Chord
Recenter	Home	Ctrl+Shift+T
Toggle tracking	End	Ctrl+Shift+Y
Cycle tracking mode	Page Up	Ctrl+Shift+G
Toggle yaw mode	Page Down	Ctrl+Shift+H
Toggle frustum widening	Insert	Ctrl+Shift+U
Cycle injection mode	Delete	Ctrl+Shift+J

Page Up / Ctrl+Shift+G cycles tracking mode:

1. Normal head-tracked gameplay
2. Positional tracking disabled, rotational tracking enabled
3. Rotational tracking disabled, positional tracking enabled
4. Back to normal

Page Down / Ctrl+Shift+H switches yaw between horizon-locked (the default, head yaw turns about the world's up axis however the camera is pitched) and camera-local (head yaw turns about the camera's own up axis, which leans the view at steep pitches). The switch takes effect immediately and lasts for the session; the mod starts in whatever the INI says.

Configuration

The config file is generated on first run next to AI.exe at AlienIsolationHeadTracking.ini. A setting the file does not carry keeps its default, so a file written by an older build still loads.

[General]
; Yaw mode: true = horizon-locked yaw (default), false = camera-local
WorldSpaceYaw=true
; Keep the space suit helmet on your head instead of leaving it facing where the body looks
HelmetFollowsHead=true

[Hotkeys]
; Virtual-key code for the yaw-mode toggle.
YawModeKey=0x22    ; Page Down

WorldSpaceYaw=true (default) keeps yaw rotating around the world up-axis, so "up" stays gravity-aligned even when you look up or down. Set it to false for camera-local yaw, which follows the camera's current up-axis. Toggle it at runtime with Page Down or Ctrl+Shift+H without restarting.

HelmetFollowsHead=true (default) keeps the space suit helmet on your head as you look around, instead of it staying fixed to the body and leaving you looking out through the side of it.

Troubleshooting

Mod not loading

• Confirm xinput1_3.dll and AlienIsolationHeadTracking.asi are both next to AI.exe.
• Launch through Steam, not by running AI.exe directly.
• Look for AlienIsolationHeadTracking.log next to AI.exe. If it is missing, the loader did not pick up the .asi.

No tracking response

• Make sure OpenTrack is running and Started, with output set to UDP on 127.0.0.1:4242.
• Check that port 4242 is not blocked by your firewall.
• Open AlienIsolationHeadTracking.log and read the lines about the UDP connection and incoming poses.
• If another tracker or modded game already holds port 4242, close it. The mod retries automatically.

Jittery or unstable tracking

• Raise the smoothing in OpenTrack (or in your phone app, if it sends directly).
• Add a small deadzone in OpenTrack's mapping curves to ignore tiny head movements.
• For wireless or phone trackers, prefer a wired or 5 GHz connection; dropped packets read as jitter.

Wrong rotation axis

• Invert the offending axis in OpenTrack's mapping (each axis has an invert checkbox).
• Confirm the axis is actually mapped in OpenTrack; an unmapped axis reads as a dead one.

Yaw feels wrong when looking up or down at extreme angles

• Toggle between world-locked and camera-local yaw with Page Down or Ctrl+Shift+H. World-locked (default) is horizon-stable; camera-local follows the camera's current up-axis.

The space suit helmet does not move with my head

• Set HelmetFollowsHead=true under [General] in AlienIsolationHeadTracking.ini (it is on by default).

Updating

Download the new release and run install.cmd again. Your config is preserved.

Uninstalling

Run uninstall.cmd. This removes the mod's .asi. The Ultimate ASI Loader (xinput1_3.dll) is only removed if the installer put it there. Use uninstall.cmd /force to remove it anyway.

Building from Source

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/itsloopyo/alien-isolation-headtracking
cd alien-isolation-headtracking
pixi run build
pixi run deploy

Requires Visual Studio 2022 (with the C++ workload) and CMake; MinHook is fetched by CMake. Output lands at build/Release/AlienIsolationHeadTracking.asi.

Community & Support

• Discord: Loop's Head Tracking Hangout - setup help, bug reports, and new-release announcements
• Lopari - free Windows launcher with one-click install and launch for the released head-tracking mods
• Headcam - free app that turns your iPhone or Android phone into the head tracker

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details. Third-party components are listed in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md.

Credits

• Alien: Isolation developed by Creative Assembly, published by SEGA.
• Ultimate ASI Loader by ThirteenAG (MIT).
• MinHook (BSD-2-Clause).
• OpenTrack (ISC).
• Built on the shared cameraunlock-core framework.

Disclaimer

This mod is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Creative Assembly or SEGA. Use at your own risk.